Early Clinical Outcomes of the Morbidly Obese Patients Who Underwent Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy by Gastric Cancer Surgeons: the Analysis of Fifty Consecutive Cases

Purpose@#The number of bariatric surgeries performed at our tertiary hospital has gradually increased since the national health insurance began to cover their expenses in January of 2019. This study examined the early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) performed by experienced gastric cancer surgeons. @*Materials and Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed data from 50 patients who underwent LSG between November of 2018 and April of 2020 at the Asan Medical Center by 1 of 5 experienced surgeons each of whom performed approximately 100–300 cases of gastrectomy annually. The age, body mass index (BMI), weight, presence of comorbidities, operation time, hospital stay after surgery, postoperative complications, postoperative excess weight loss (EWL), and resolution of comorbidities were examined. @*Results@#The mean age, BMI, and weight were 37.29±9.77 years, 37.12 kg/m2, and 102.00 kg, respectively. The mean operation time and postoperative length of hospital stay were 109.59±35.88 and 5.06±1.20 days, respectively. Two patients (4.00%) had early postoperative complications and postoperative leakage; bleeding and stenosis were not reported. The EWL after 1 and 6 months of operation was 26.55% and 60.34%, respectively. The resolution of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia after 6 months of operation was 88.89%, 54.54%, and 50.00%, respectively. @*Conclusion@#LSG is safe and effective when performed by an experienced gastric cancer surgeon; however, a long-term follow-up of patients is required.

Advantages of ypTNM Staging in Post-surgical Prognosis for Initially Unresectable or Stage IV Gastric Cancers

Purpose@#For unresectable or initially metastatic gastric cancer, conversion surgery (CVS), after systemic chemotherapy, has received attention as a treatment strategy. This study evaluated the prognostic value of ypTNM stage and the oncologic outcomes in patients receiving CVS. @*Materials and Methods@#A retrospective review of clinicopathologic findings and oncologic outcomes of 116 patients who underwent CVS with curative intent, after combination chemotherapy, between January 2000 and December 2015, has been reported here. @*Results@#Twenty-six patients (22.4%) underwent combined resection of another organ and 12 patients received para-aortic lymphadenectomy (10.3%). Pathologic complete remission (CR) was confirmed in 11 cases (9.5%). The median overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) times were 35.0 and 21.3 months, respectively. In multivariate analysis, ypTNM stage was the sole independent prognostic factor for DFS (P=0.042). Tumors invading an adjacent organ or involving distant lymph nodes showed better survival than those with peritoneal seeding or solid organ metastasis (P=0.084). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the 3-year OS rate of patients with pathologic CR and those with CR of the primary tumor but residual node metastasis was 81.8% and 80.0%, respectively. OS was 65.8% for stage 1 patients, 49.8% for those at stage 2, and 36.3% for those at stage 3. @*Conclusions@#The ypTNM staging is a significant prognostic factor in patients who underwent CVS for localized unresectable or stage IV gastric cancers. Patients with locally advanced but unresectable lesions or with tumors with distant nodal metastasis may be good candidates for CVS.

Association between the MUC1 rs4072037 Polymorphism and Risk of Gastric Cancer and Clinical Outcomes

Purpose@#Mucin 1 (MUC1) was identified as a gastric cancer (GC) susceptibility gene by genome-wide association studies in Asians and candidate gene studies in Europeans. This study aimed to investigate the association between the MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism and GC in terms of the Lauren classification and long-term clinical outcomes. @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 803 patients with GC and 816 unrelated healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The association between the MUC1 rs4072037 variant and GC histological types and clinical outcomes, including tumor recurrence and prognosis was investigated. @*Results@#The major A allele of rs4072037 was associated with increased GC risk (P0.05). Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed the heterozygote AG rs4072037 allele as an independent risk factor influencing tumor recurrence and disease-related death in diffuse-type GC (P0.05). @*Conclusions@#The exonic single nucleotide polymorphism rs4072037 in MUC1 was associated with diffuse-type GC and was an independent risk factor influencing tumor recurrence and disease-related death in diffuse-type GC.

Surgical Outcomes and Follow-Up Results of 100 Cases of Laparoscopic Total Gastrectomy Using the Overlap Method with Stapled Closure

PURPOSE: The overlap method is one of the most popular procedures for construction of an esophagojejunostomy and its common entry is usually closed with sutures. This study aimed to report long-term complications and surgical outcomes of the overlap method with stapled closure (OMSC), to compare them with those of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), and to analyze a learning curve.METHODS: Between January 2015 and August 2017, 100 consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy with OMSC for gastric cancer and the patients' medical records were reviewed. Their clinicopathologic characteristics, surgical outcomes, and long-term complications were investigated and compared with those of the LATG group. A learning curve of OMSC was analyzed using the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average chart.RESULTS: The overall duration of surgery was shorter in the LATG group; however, there was no difference in patients with early gastric cancer. Hospital admission was shorter and the pain scale was lower in the OMSC group. There was no difference in the number of harvested lymph nodes, date of flatus, or incidence of postoperative morbidity. Both groups showed no duodenal stump leakage, anastomosis-related complications, recurrence, or mortality during the follow-up period. Petersen hernia was a notable long-term event following OMSC compared with LATG. At least 27 cases of surgery were required to reach a plateau in terms of surgery duration for OMSC.CONCLUSION: OMSC is a safe option for the treatment of gastric cancer and has favorable long-term results and surgical outcomes. Closure of mesenteric defects and Petersen space should be considered.

Clinical Outcomes of Totally Laparoscopic Total Gastrectomy versus Open Total Gastrectomy for Remnant Gastric Cancer

PURPOSE: This study compares the feasibility and safety of Totally Laparoscopic Total Gastrectomy (TLTG) with Open Total Gastrectomy (OTG) for Remnant Gastric Cancer (RGC) in patients who had previously undergone gastrectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the data of 139 consecutive patients who underwent OTG along with 21 patients who underwent TLTG for RGC between January 2008 and December 2016. One-to-two Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was performed to compare the age, gender, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, clinical tumor stage, previous gastric disease, previous gastrectomy type, previous reconstruction type, history of previous upper abdominal surgery except gastrectomy, and combined major operations. A total of sixty patients (21 who underwent TLTG and 39 who underwent OTG) were matched, and surgical outcomes and survival rates were compared. RESULTS: The TLTG patients were found to recover bowel movements sooner than the OTG group (OTG 3.74±0.88 vs TLTG 3.19±0.81 days, p=0.02). Post-operative surgical outcomes, including pathological features, clinical courses, complications and survival rates did not differ between the two groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Although TLTG was not found to have any definitive clinical advantage over OTG except for more rapid recovery of bowel movement, TLTG should be considered as safe and feasible surgical procedure as OTG for the treatment of RGC.

Phase II Study of Induction Chemotherapy with Docetaxel, Capecitabine, and Cisplatin Plus Bevacizumab for Initially Unresectable Gastric Cancer with Invasion of Adjacent Organs or Paraaortic Lymph Node Metastasis / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, capecitabine, and cisplatin (DXP) plus bevacizumab (BEV) on initially unresectable locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) or paraaortic lymph node (PAN) metastatic gastric cancer (GC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with LAGC or unresectable PAN metastatic GC received six induction chemotherapy cycles (60 mg/m2 docetaxel intravenously on day 1, 937.5 mg/m2 capecitabine orally twice daily on days 1-14, 60 mg/m2 cisplatin intravenously on day 1, and 7.5 mg/kg BEV intravenously on day 1 every 3 weeks), followed by conversion surgery. The primary endpoint was R0 resection rate. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients with invasion to adjacent organs but without PAN metastasis (n=14, LAGC group) or with PAN metastasis regardless of invasion (n=17, PAN group) were enrolled between July 2010 and December 2014. Twenty-seven patients (87.1%) completed six chemotherapy cycles. The most common grade ≥ 3 toxicities were neutropenia (71%), neutropenia with fever/infection (22.6%/3.2%), and stomatitis (16.1%). The clinical response and R0 resection rates were 64.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 46.6 to 82.0) and 64.5% (LAGC group, 71.4%; PAN group, 58.8%), respectively. The pathological complete regression rate was 12.9%. After a median follow-up of 44.5 months (range, 39.4 to 49.7 months), the median progression-free survival and overall survival were 13.1 months (95% CI, 8.9 to 17.3) and 38.6 months (95% CI, 22.0 to 55.1), respectively. CONCLUSION: Induction chemotherapy with DXP+BEV displayed antitumor activities with encouraging R0 resection rate and manageable toxicity profiles on patients with LAGC or PAN metastatic GC.

Comparison of survival of surgical resection and conservative treatment in patients with gastric cancer aged 80 years or older: a single-center experience

PURPOSE: With the increase in the average life expectancy, the elderly population continues to increase rapidly. However, no consensus has been reached on the feasibility for surgical resection due to the high morbidity and mortality rate after surgical treatment in elderly patients caused by aging and underlying diseases. METHODS: This study was performed with patients aged 80 years and older. The subjects were classified into 2 groups as follows: the surgical resection group consisting of 61 patients, and the conservative treatment group consisting of 39 patients suitable for curative resection. RESULTS: Mean age and clinical stages in the conservative treatment group were higher than those in the surgical resection group. There was no significant difference in sex, location of the lesion, histological type, or underlying disease. The mean survival time of surgical resection group and conservative treatment group was respectively 52.1 ± 2.66 months and 37.1 ± 5.08 months (P < 0.05) for clinical stage 1 disease, 41.7 ± 5.16 months and 22.4 ± 6.07 months (P = 0.004) for stage 2 disease, and 31.7 ± 9.37 months and 10.6 ± 1.80 months (P = 0.049) for stage 3 disease. However, as for the extent of lymph node resection for the different stages, we observed no significant difference between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Surgical resection in all clinical stages, except stage 4, showed a higher survival rate than conservative treatment. To minimize postoperative surgery complications, limited lymph node dissection should also be considered.

Prognosis of Pregnancy-Associated Gastric Cancer: An Age-, Sex-, and Stage-Matched Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Pregnancy-associated gastric cancer is a rare condition. This case-control study was performed to identify the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of pregnancy-associated gastric cancer. METHODS: All consecutive patients who presented to our tertiary referral hospital with pregnancy-associated gastric cancer from 1991 to 2012 were identified. Two age-, sex-, and stage-matched controls for each case were also identified from the records. Clinicopathological, gynecological, and oncological outcomes were recorded. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor, and E-cadherin. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed for fibroblast growth factor receptor 2. RESULTS: The median overall survival rates of the pregnancy-associated gastric cancer and control groups were 7.0 months and 15.0 months, respectively (p=0.189). Poor prognostic factors included advanced stage and tumor location in the corpus or the entire stomach but not pregnancy status or loss of E-cadherin. Pregnancy-associated gastric cancer was associated with a longer time from diagnosis to treatment (21 days vs 7 days, p=0.021). The two groups did not differ in the expression of the receptors or E-cadherin. CONCLUSIONS: The dismal prognosis of pregnancy-associated gastric cancer may related to the tumor stage and location rather than to pregnancy itself.

A Case of Klinefelter's Syndrome Accompanying with Polymyositis

Klinefelter's syndrome which is characterized by hypogonadism with karyotype abnormality (47 XXY or 46 XY/47 XXY) in males has been reported to be associated with autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. However, Klinefelter's syndrome accompanying with polymyositis has rarely been reported. We report a case of KFS with polymyosits in a 38-year old man for the first time in Korea.

The effects of laparoscopic assisted total gastrectomy on surgical outcomes in the treatment of gastric cancer / 대한외과학회지

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of laparoscopic assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), we compared its early surgical outcomes with those of conventional open total gastrectomy (OTG) in patients who were diagnosed as having early gastric cancer preoperatively. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed early surgical outcomes in 190 consecutive patients who underwent total gastrectomy for early gastric cancer between January 2009 to April 2010. The patients were divided into those who underwent LATG and those who underwent OTG. Their early surgical outcomes were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of LATG. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in postoperative complication rates (P = 0.291). But in the analysis of other early surgical outcomes, we found that LATG could improve time to first flatus (P < 0.001), time to commencement of soft diet (P = 0.034), administration of analgesics (P = 0.024), pain score (Numeric Rating Scale), and hospital discharge (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: Although LATG didn't show better results for postoperative complications than those of OTG, LATG contributes to the improvement of early surgical outcomes, including bowel movement, pain score and hospital discharge. Therefore, we suggest that LATG could be a method to improve early surgical outcomes in patients who need total gastrectomy.

Surgical Treatment for Patients Who Underwent Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR)/Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) of Early Gastric Cancer (EGC)

PURPOSE: To evaluate the necessity for additional surgical treatment after Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) and Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), we analyzed the pathologic results of patients who underwent surgical treatment. METHODS: 140 consecutive patients underwent additional surgical treatment after EMR/ESD with en bloc resection between April 2005 and November 2009 at ASAN Medical Center. Additional surgical treatments were undergone for following conditions such as incomplete dissection (involvement of margin), undifferentiated-type histology (> or =2 cm) and submucosal cancer. RESULTS: One patient with deep margin involvement displayed advanced gastric cancer after gastrectomy. Three of 74 patients with clear resection margin were confirmed to have residual cancer at ESD site and 2 of 3 patients displayed advanced gastric cancer after surgery. In univariate analysis for metastasis of lymph node, deep submucosal invasion (over sm2 or 500microm) and the presence of lymphovascular invasion showed significant differences for lymph node metastasis. Especially, lymphovascular invasion was an important predictive factor for lymph node metastasis in multivariate analysis. In analysis for residual cancer, lateral margin involvement and large tumor (>3 cm) were risk factors. And, only lateral margin involvement showed significant risk in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Although EMR/ESD were fully accomplished for resection margin, gastrectomy and lymph node dissection were positively necessary for patients with deepsubmucosal invasion (over sm2 or 500microm) and the presence of lymphovascular invasion to eliminate the possibility of residual cancer or more advanced gastric cancer or metastatic lymph nodes.

Utility of Surgical Resection in the Management of Metachronous Krukenberg's Tumors of Gastric Origin

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic factors and the significance of metastatectomy for Krukenberg's tumors of gastric origin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among the patient who underwent gastric surgery from 1992 through 2005, 90 female patients with Krukenberg's tumors of gastric origin were identified. We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathologic characteristics, prognostic factors, and treatments for primary gastric cancer. We also investigated the prognostic risk factors for the onset of metachronous Krukenberg's tumors and the survival time of patients who underwent an operation for metachronous Krukenberg's tumors. RESULTS: The presence of a synchronous Krukenberg's tumor (mean survival time=17.6 months, P<0.01), peritoneal seeding (14.5 months, P<0.01), and non-curative resection (15.1 months, P<0.01), were statistically significant prognostic factors for survival time in female patients with gastric cancer. The stage of primary gastric cancer (P=0.049) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.011) were statistically significant risk factors for recurrence time of a metachronous Krukenberg's tumor. In the metachronous Krukenberg's tumor group (n=53), the mean survival time of the metastatectomy group (n=46, 43.2 months, P=0.012) was longer than that in the chemotherapy or conservative treatment groups (n=7 and 24 months, respectively). Metastatectomy, presense or abscence of residual tumor and extent of residual tumor were significant prognostic factors for survival time in female patients with metachronous Krukenberg's tumor of gastric origin. CONCLUSIONS: A close observation and evaluation with ultrasound or computed tomography is necessary in female patients with advanced gastric cancer to detect a metachronous Krukenberg's tumor as soon as possible. The surgeon must operate more aggressively in patients with metachronous Krukenberg's tumors.

Totally Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy with ROUX-EN-Y Reconstruction for Treatment of Duodenal Ulcer Obstruction

Because of advancement of medical treatment, surgical management of gastric or duodenal ulcer was indicated for treatment of perforation, massive hemorrhage and obstruction. The distal gastrectomy including ulcer was known as principle method of duodenal ulcer obstruction, but actually many surgeons have performed only bypass surgery for the difficulty of formation of duodenal stump. In our case, 61-year-old male with repetitive duodenal ulcer obstruction transferred with obstruction due to deformities and inflammations of duodenal ulcer. We had performed totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with ROUX-EN-Y reconstruction using the clear visibility of laparoscopy and fine dissections of harmonic scalpel. The patient started soft diet on postoperative day 5 and discharged on postoperative day 8. He returned to work after discharging immediately.

Following of the Omentum Preserving Gastrectomy for Advanced Gastric Cancer without Serosa Exposure

PURPOSE: The generally accepted standard surgery for advanced gastric cancer is gastrectomy with D2 dissection accompanied by omentectomy. Theoretically, advanced gastric cancer without serosa exposure cannot disseminate metastasis to the omentum. However, the significance of routine omentectomy in survival remains unproved. METHODS: From January 2000 to December 2002, 174 patients, who diagnosed T2 gastric adenocarcinoma pathologically, underwent curative gastrectomy by one operator. 52 patients underwent omentum-preserving gastrectomy and 122 patients underwent gastrectomy with resection of omentum. We compared clinicopathologic characteristics, recurrence patterns, recurrence rate and survival rates between the two groups. RESULTS: Five-year survival rate was 82.9% in the omentum-preserving group and 85.2% in the omentectomy group (P=0.729). Moreover, there was no significant difference in recurrence rate between the two groups (P=0.298). In the omentum-preserving group, 3 peritoneal (25%), 4 local (33.3%), 4 hematogenous (33.3%), 1 distant lymph node (8.3%) recurrences were shown. However, in the omentectomy group, 7 peritoneal (35%), 6 local (30%), 6 hematogenous (30%), 1 distant lymph node (5%) recurrences were shown (P=0.935). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the omentum-preserving gastrectomy may be applicable to advanced gastric cancer without serosa exposure, and that it is not necessary to perform uniform omentectomy for all advanced gastric cancer.

Laparoscopic Assisted Total Gastrectomy (LATG) with Extracorporeal Anastomosis and using Circular Stapler for Middle or Upper Early Gastric Carcinoma: Reviews of Single Surgeon's Experience of 48 Consecutive Patients

PURPOSE: Many recent studies have reported on the feasibility and usefulness of laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for treating early gastric cancer. On the other hand, there has been few reports about laparoscopy assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) because upper located gastric cancer is relatively rare and the surgical technique is more difficult than that for LADG, We now present our procedure and results of performingLATG for the gastric cancer located in the upper or middle portion of the stomach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From Jan 2005 to Sep 2007, 96 patients underwent LATG by four surgeons at the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Among them, 48 consecutive patients who were operated on by asingle surgeon were analyzed with respect to the clinicopathological features, the surgical results and the postoperative courses with using the prospectively collected laparoscopy surgery data. RESULTS: There was no conversion to open surgery during LATG. For all the reconstructions, Roux-en Y esophago- jejunostomy and D1+beta lymphadenectomy were the standard procedures. The mean operation time was 212+/-67 minutes. The mean total number of retrieved lymph nodes was 28.9+/-10.54 (range: 12~64) and all the patients had a clear proximal resection margin in their final pathologic reports. The mean time to passing gas, first oral feeding and discharge from the hospital was 2.98, 3.67 and 7.08 days, respectively. There were 5 surgical complications and 2 non-surgical complications for 5 (10.4%) patients, and there was no mortality. None of the patients needed operation because of complications and they recovered with conservative treatments. The mean operation time remained constant after 20 cases and so a learning curve was present. The morbidity rate was not different between the two periods, but the postoperative course was significantly better after the learning curve. Analysis of the factors contributing to the postoperative morbidity, with using logistic regression analysis, showed that the BMI is the only contributing factor forpostoperative complications (P=0.029, HR=2.513, 95% CI=1.097-5.755). Conclusions: LATG with regional lymph node dissection for upper and middle early gastric cancer is considered to be a safe, feasible method that showed an excellent postoperative course and acceptable morbidity. BMI should be considered in the patient selection at the beginning period because of the impact of the BMI on the postoperative morbidity.

The Learning Curve of Laparoscopy-assisted Distal Gastrectomy (LADG) for Cancer

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer was introduced in the past decade because it was considered less invasive than open surgery, and this results in less postoperative pain, faster recovery and an improved quality of life. Several studies have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this procedure. We examined the outcome of performing laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer over the last two year. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April 2004 to December 2006, 329 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma underwent a laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection. The data was retrospectively reviewed in terms of the clinicopathologic findings, the perioperative outcomes and the complications. RESULTS: The total patient group was comprised 196 men (59.6%) and 133 women (40.4%). The mean BMI was 23.6 and the mean tumor size was 2.7 cm. The mean number of harvested lymph node was 22.7, and this was 18.6 before 30 cases and 23.1 after 30 cases, and the difference was significant (P=0.02). The mean operation time was 180.9 min, and this was than 287.9 min before 30 cases and 170.2 min after 30 cases. After 30 cases, there was a significant improvement of the operation time (P<0.01). The mean incision length after 30 cases was shorter than that before 30 cases (P<0.01). Postoperative complications occurred in 24 (7.3%) of 329 patients and there was no conversion to open surgery. CONCLUSION: Even though the LADG was accompanied by a difficult learning curve, we successfully performed 329 LADG procedures over the past 2 years and we believe that LADG is a safe, feasible operation for treating most early gastric cancers (EGC).

Short-term Surgical Outcomes after Laparoscopic D2 Lymphadenectomy in Patients with Distal Gastric Cancer

PURPOSE: With advancements in laparoscopic surgery, there have been efforts to expand the indication for laparoscopic surgery up to advanced gastric cancer. However, scant data are available regarding the feasibility and advantages of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with standard radical D2 lymph node dissection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients who were preoperatively diagnosed with cT1N0M0 gastric cancer underwent LADG with standard D2 lymphadenectomy between February and August 2007. They were compared with patients who underwent conventional open D2 lymphadenectomy with respect to clinicopathologic features, surgical outcomes, and postoperative course. RESULTS: The mean operative time was significantly longer in the LADG group than in the open group (160+/-25 min vs. 135+/-21 min, P<0.001). However, surgical outcomes, such as surgical margin and number of retrieved lymph nodes (25.7+/-11.1 vs. 26.9+/-9.2, P=ns) were comparable between the groups. The LADG group exhibited quicker postoperative recovery, and both groups exhibited similar postoperative morbidity and mortality. CONCLUSION: LADG with D2 lymphadenectomy is feasible and safe, with short-term surgical outcomes comparable to those seen in open D2 lymphadenectomy. Further prospective clinical investigation will be needed to better evaluate the advantages of LADG with D2 lymphadenectomy.

The Impact of Obesity on Operative Results and Postoperative Courses in Laparoscopic-assisted Distal Gastrectomy (LADG)

PURPOSE: Despite known advantages of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) over open surgery, including less blood loss, less pain, faster recovery, and shorter hospital stays, many surgeons still hesitate to perform LADG in overweight patients due to concerns about increased perioperative morbidity. We investigated whether surgical outcomes in LADG differ in overweight patients and normal patients, as well as the influence of surgical experience. METHODS: Between April 2004 and December 2006, 331 consecutive patients underwent LADG for preoperatively diagnosed early gastric cancer. Using the definition of overweight by western criteria, patients were classified into a low (n = 187, BMI 25 kg/m(2)) group. We retrospectively analyzed surgical outcomes, including operation time, retrieved lymph nodes, hospital courses, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: The only differences in overweight and normal patients were longer operation time, incision length, and fewer retrieved lymph nodes. As our surgical team accumulated experience (after 250 cases in our study), there were no differences at all between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Technical difficulty in overweight patients could hamper some surgical outcomes but didn't worsen the post- operative courses or complications. Moreover, those difficulties can be overcome as the surgical team accumulates experience.

Study on the Changes of Voiding Methods of Patients with SCI after Discharge: Focusing on the Patients Participating in the Regular Urinary Tract Surveillance Program

OBJECTIVE: To examine how consistently patients with spinal cord injured (SCI) after discharge use the clean intermittent catheterization (CIC). METHOD: The participants were 146 SCI patients hospitalized for regular urinary tract surveillance program, who resided in a community for over one year after discharge. The mean age was 40.3 years old and the mean time after injury was 6.2 years, consisted of 118 males and 28 females, and of 68 tetraplegics and 78 paraplegics. RESULTS: At discharge, the CIC as a voiding methods was used by 97 patients, Valsalva or reflexic voiding by 43, indwelling catheterization by 3, and diaper voiding by 3. Atfollow-up, CIC was used by 96, Valsalva or reflexic voiding by 37, indwelling catheterization by 7, and diaper voiding by 6. Among 97 patients who used CIC at discharge, 83 consistently used the CIC (compliance=85.5%). The patients with tetraplegia showed 82.9% of compliance while the patients with paraplega showed 88.0% of compliance, but there was no statistical difference. CONCLUSION: The compliance with the CIC method was comparatively high (85.5%). The CIC method can be effectively applied to the management of neurogenic bladder for the SCI patients residing in a community after discharge.

Preoperative Chemotherapy for Highly Advanced Gastric Cancer

PURPOSE: The prognosis of advanced gastric cancer is still dismal despite of aggressive surgical treatment. Many investigational approaches such as the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy have been widely attempted for highly advanced gastric cancer. There are, however, few studies about the use of these types of treatment in Korea. METHODS: Between 2001 and 2004, 38 patients with highly advanced gastric cancer underwent preoperative chemotherapy using the DXP (Docetaxel, Xeloda, and Cisplatin) regimen before surgery. An retrospective analysis including clinicopathological features, recurrence, and survival was performed using patient medical records. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients had locally advanced gastric cancer without a distant metastasis, and 13 patients had a distant metastasis or peritoneal metastasis. Patients received the chemotherapy regimen an average of 4.2 times. A partial response and stable disease were found in 28 (73.7%) and 10 (26.3%) patients, respectively, according to the RECIST criteria. Twenty- one (84%) of 25 patients without a distant metastasis had a curative resection compared to 6 (46.2%) of 13 patients with a distant metastasis (P=0.024). Four patients (10.5%) had complications with 1 postoperative death. The overall 5 year survival rate was 34% and the median survival duration was 22 months (49%, 34 months for the locally advanced group vs. 0%, 10 months for the distant metastasis group; P<0.001). The only predictor of prognosis of patients as determined by multivariate analysis was the pathological TNM stage. CONCLUSION: Preoperative chemotherapy can be safely performed without increased postoperative morbidity and mortality. To define the actual benefits for patient survival after pre-operative chemotherapy, a large scale randomized prospective control study should be performed.